The term “planters” as used herein, it is intended to include all types of planting machines, such as row crop planters, grain drills and any other seed planting devices. As planters become larger and larger, the seed storage hoppers or containers on modern planters have also become larger in capacity such that currently, a large agricultural planter is capable of storing seed in quantities which are of considerable weight, and there have been many attempts to mechanize the filling and refilling of planter hoppers or seed bins with seed. Mechanized filling of seed hoppers or bins saves considerable time during the planting season, when time is at a premium.
Most prior attempts to provide a seed supply tender for a planter have been limited to a single type of seed at a given time, or to a single type of seed container. Such attempts are limited in that a farmer may use the same planter to plant different varieties of seed in the same field. Bulk seed for popular commercial crops such as corn and soy beans is now distributed in large boxes, tanks or seed bags, depending upon the producer of the seed and the quantity and volume of seed being transferred. The weight of the containers requires powered lifts for handling.
It is thus desirable to have a seed tender which is not only portable and adaptable to the various situations found in different farms and areas, but which is capable of handling large volumes and considerable weight of seed, and which is also capable of carrying seed containers of different volumes and/or configurations, for maximum flexibility. Further, by accommodating a larger number of seed containers on the seed tender, a problem arises in mechanizing the distribution of seed from the various containers, particularly as they are located in different places on a tender, as well as having the vehicle accommodate containers of different configurations.